MisAdventures in Mineral Town
by EmeraldGlee
Summary: To think that siblings Jack and Claire were aiming to have a nice and quiet life at the farm that their grandfather left them long ago...oh how wrong they were for choosing Mineral Town. Series of one-shots that may or may not be related
1. Ghost

**Mis-Adventures in Mineral Town**

**DISCLAIMER:** EmeraldGlee doesn't own Harvest Moon or any other references she may make within the story. They belong to their rightful owners. This disclaimer applies to all chapters.

**GHOST:**

I hated ghost. I hated them with absolute passion. I hated them because they scared the living daylights out of me. That's why it really got to me when I met one for real.

My best friend and I go way back. We knew each other since we were six. I first met her when I visited my grandfather's farm in Mineral Town. She was one hell of I tomboy, I tell you. She's still one even now, after 14 years have passed.

One night, more specifically on her birthday, I stayed at her place. She and her father, Doug, ran the only inn and bar in Mineral Town, by the way. After one killer party (and after I helped her and her dad clean up most of the mess), she offered to take me to where I would be sleeping for the night.

After I washed up in shared bathroom of the inn, I made my way to the room she showed to me earlier. That room is where Gray and Cliff slept in too. And occasionally, Kai, during summer.

I was looking forward to having a sleepover with the boys that have become part of the ever-growing circle of friends I had ever since I took over grandpa's farm. I was also looking forward to having fun with Ann again. Just like the good, old days…man, that made me sound old.

As I walked towards the said room, I couldn't help but feel a sudden chill go through my spine. What was _that_? Could that have been…a…g-g-_ghost_? I gulped and turned around. What I saw made my heart stop in its tracks.

It was a teenage girl. She had scarlet hair in two braided pigtails at the base of her head. The redness of her hair reminded me of blood, not like the way Ann's red reminded me of a carrot. She also wore a black spotted, yellow bandana as if it was a headband. A yellow shirt that had a small, smiling piglet print adorned her upper body and jean shorts covered her lower areas. Long, black stockings covered her legs.

She looked absolutely normal…except for the fact that _HER FEET WEREN'T TOUCHING THE FLOOR!_

"Hello, there. Can you really see me?" Her face had the look of pure, childish naïveté

"Are…are you…a…a…g-g-ghost…?" I was really scared. I was scared shitless but I asked the question anyway.

"I guess I am. Hee hee." That giggle reminded me of a sweet little girl.

Even if the voice sounded so pure and innocent, I ran away. Screaming. I ran as if my life depended on it…_WHICH IT DID!_ I don't care if it was a man, woman, heck, even if it was an animal. All ghosts, no matter what shape or size, are _EVIL_!

"Man…the first person to actually see me in _ages_ runs away screaming like a little girl. I wonder what my brother would have thought of him."

I heard her voice but I kept on running. I ran until a mop hit me square in the face.

"Jack! Are you alright?" said Ann as she removed the mop from my face and gave me back my hat that had fallen off my head. I didn't even notice my hat falling and that was _weird_. I felt practically naked without that hat and me not feeling it fall off was strange indeed.

"I'm so sorry, Jack. I had to stop you somehow before you hit something valuable with all your screaming and flailing." With a mighty pull, she helped me up.

"Don't sweat it, Ann. I'm just glad that…" I never got to finish my sentence before I saw that the same ghost-girl was just behind Ann. She had a look of worry on her face.

"Hey, are you alright? It's seems that you're fine…my name's Yoiko, by the way…" said Yoiko as she smiled.

She has fangs…she introduced herself to me…a ghost…fangs…

"Hey, Jack…are you listening to me? Jack?" I could faintly hear Ann's voice and see her waving her hand in front of my face. I could see black creeping into my vision as I made my way into unconsciousness.

* * *

_**The next morning…**_

Ugh…my head…I feel like I got hit by Bessy (my first cow) ten times in a row before falling into a pile of rocks and other sharp farming implements.

"Ugh…what…happened?" I mumbled as I slowly sat up on the bed.

"Why don't you tell us?" said Ann as she passed me a glass of water. I drank it and put the empty glass on the bedside table.

"Us?" I belatedly noticed Cliff nearby. "What're you doing here?"

"I live here, Jack." said Cliff in his usual, timid voice. My mouth formed a small 'o' before noticing that I was in the men's side of the inn.

"What happened to you?" asked Cliff as he sat down on one of the nearby beds.

"Yeah. I mean, one moment, I was on my way to bed…the next, I find you screaming in the hallway in the middle of the night." said Ann as she too sat down.

After a moment of thinking it over, I said "I really don't know…I think I saw a ghost…but…there aren't any ghosts here…right?"

Silence enveloped us. I could literally see tumbleweeds passing by. The silence was starting to kill me. When I was about to snap, I saw Ann stifling giggles. I turned to Cliff and saw that he was in a similar condition.

"So…there are no ghosts in your inn…right Ann?"

When I said that, the two of them burst out laughing. They laughed like they haven't laughed before…well in Cliff's case, anyway. I heard Ann laugh like that many times over.

Time passed and they still haven't stopped laughing. I eventually joined them with a weak chuckle. A few more moments passed by before they finally stopped.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Ann finally said "No, Jack, there are no ghosts in my inn. Cliff is my witness." she pointed a thumb towards Cliff for emphasis.

He nodded to confirm things. "Maybe…you're getting crazy, Jack. All that work you do in the farm must be getting to you." Cliff's voice went back to being soft and timid. There was no trace of his earlier loud voice.

"Heh, maybe you're right…maybe…I think I should take a break today. Maybe I'll ask Claire to run the farm for today. She's a strong girl…yeah, she can handle it. I think I'll go to the beach and have a nice soak. Yeah…that sounds nice. I mean, I had that dream about a gay alien that was about to eat me alive along with Fish Fillet…"

I kept mumbling to myself for quite a while, Cliff and Ann just watching me all the way.

"Guys, as you've heard, I'm taking a break today. I'll be leaving now. Sorry for the inconvenience. Bye."

With that said, I made my way to the beach to have some fun.

* * *

_**Meanwhile…back with Cliff and Ann…**_

Silence enveloped the pair as Jack left them. It remained silent for a few more moments. The silence was broken, however, by Ann.

"He really is stressed out, isn't he Cliff?"

"Yeah…"

"I just hope Claire isn't doing as bad as he is…"

Cliff just grunted in reply.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I have noticed that I suck at writing so I decided to make this story as my 'Practice Story'. As stated in the summary, this story will be composed of one-shots that may or may not be related (are those still considered one-shots?). I hope you'll enjoy this and that I will learn more. If there are any comments or suggestions, please review or pm me.


	2. Spring

**Mis-Adventures in Mineral Town**

**SPRING:**

My name is Claire Nuts and I'm a girl of many things. I can cook like a professional chef, I have a pretty good singing voice, I can grow giant crops and I'm pretty strong. Not to sound to full of myself but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

One thing that I really can't do, even if my life depended on it, is swim. I have a great fear of bodies of water just like how my brother, Jack, is scared shitless by ghosts. When I finally got over this fear, I still can't figure out how it happened.

It all started during my first week of moving in Mineral Town…

* * *

"La la la!" came the sound of my voice as I strolled through the mountains collecting various grasses and wild berries. Once I noticed that my basket was somewhat full, I stretched my arms and sat down under the shade of a cherry tree for a break. I made sure that this specific tree was far away from the Goddess Spring.

"I can't believe that I'm no longer in that urban jungle...it feels so peaceful here." I said as I leaned back on the tree. "It almost seems like a dream…"

I remembered all my friends back in the city…my overly zealous suitor…my very nosy neighbor...the really cute guy down the street…the ugly vendor of fruits in the corner…man, I miss those times.

"But there's no turning back now! We promised grandpapa that we would take of the farm so that's what we will do!"

With an enthusiastic shout, I stood up and continued my search for herbs and other edibles. After all, how could we survive with the way the farm looked like right now? We needed all the money we had to revive the dead farm so we were out of money for buying food for a few weeks…maybe even months.

"It still really pisses me off how awful the farm turned out only after a few months after grandpapa died…" I said as I pulled hard on a very stubborn Blue Grass. With one last powerful tug, the stubborn herb finally released its grasp on the earth below. But due to that, I stumbled down the slope.

Down I went. Rolling…rolling…they way I tumbled reminded me of that nursery rhyme. If I remembered correctly…it was Humpty Dumpty and…someone. As I rolled, I noticed that I was coming closer to the Goddess Spring. I was terrified. I can't swim!

I tried to stop but I was falling too fast. _'Is this the end? Will I die a watery death?'_ Just as I thought that, I splashed into the spring. _SPLOOOSH!_

Inside the holy spring, I flailed around. _'I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!'_ were my thoughts. I was quickly running out of oxygen. _'Wah! I really am gonna die!'_

At that moment, I saw my life flash before me. My first time in the beach with my brother (He's the reason I got my phobia in the first place…curse you, Jack!)…my first friend…the time I got lost in the forest when I was seven…the time I almost killed Jack with my first attempt at cooking (haha! Revenge is SWEET!)…my first crush…the guy who kept following me all throughout my high school years…that dreadfully awful math test…the time I won the lotto…grandpapa's funeral…

The visions flashed in front of me. I really thought I was gonna die. _'Hehe…I might meet you soon, grandpapa…'_

My eyelids started to fall down and my lungs felt like they were on fire. The last thing I saw before falling into darkness was an ethereal light surrounding a beautiful young woman with bright green hair. I heard her say something but I couldn't make out the words. They sounded like an incoherent jumble.

'_She must be an angel…heaven here I come…'_

_

* * *

_

"…ai…"

"..aire…"

"Claire…"

"CLAIRE!"

"Huh? Whuzzat?" I mumbled as I slowly opened my eyes…damn sunlight…I thought you didn't feel pain in heaven…When I finally opened my eyes, I saw my brother in front of me with a worried expression.

"Jack? What're you doing in heaven? Did you die too?" I asked as I felt the wetness of my overalls.

"What are you talking about? We're in the mountains near the Goddess Spring."

"So I'm not dead yet?"

"Yeah…thank the goddess that you're okay, Claire."

"That's a relief…what're you doing here anyway?"

"Is that how you treat your very own twin brother, Claire? I got worried when you didn't come back for lunch so I went out looking for you. When I got here, you were in the edge of the spring. I panicked when I noticed that you were soaking wet! I ran over and boy was I relieved to see you breathing!"

Jack talked for a longer but I didn't listen to him anymore. My head was aching, my nose and lungs felt like they were on fire and eyes were still very sensitive to the light. "Ugh…" _'What was that un-godly sound? Did that come from me? Ugh…'_

"Claire…wanna go to the Doc? You look like shit." said Jack as he offered his hand to me.

"Gee…I can gather that, bro. I FEEL like shit." I took his hand anyway and we made our way towards the clinic…forgetting all about the basket of herbs.

* * *

When the two were finally gone, a figure emerged from the spring. It was a beautiful young woman with the strangest color of green hair. She wore a very elegant yet sexy dress. Amazingly, there wasn't a drop of water on her.

"Poor girl…I hope she gets over her fear…I know! I can make her get over it! Ah…I'm such a smart goddess!" the goddess snapped her fingers and sparks came out.

"There. She will never fear the bodies of water again! As a token of appreciation, I will take back this basket of herbs and ooohhh…it that a strawberry shortcake in there?"

And so…without Claire knowing how, she got over her fear of water.


End file.
